This is Greg!

這是Greg

He is also a student in Japan, so I thought it'd be cool to have him come on and answer

他也在日本讀書，所以我想如果能請他來回答

some of the most frequently asked questions I get about

那些我常被問到的問題，應該是個好點子

what it's like studying here, and

像是「在日本上學的感覺是什麼？」

some of the things we find hard

或是「遇到哪些困難？」

The coolest parts about studying in Japan

「在日本上學最酷的事情是？」

A whole bunch of different stuff. So both me and Greg are gonna answer your questions!

各式各樣的提問都有，所以今天我們就要來告訴大家啦

So let's get started

開始囉~

Sooo how did you end up in Japan? Did you apply for an exchange program through your home

你是怎麼來日本的？是在原本的大學申請交換學生嗎？

university

在美國？還是...？

in America? orrr....?

有個女生到班上來分享在日本的求學經驗

Well

以及那有多麼容易、

A girl came to our class and she was talking about how

又划算！因為有一堆留學獎學金等著你申請

she studied abroad in Japan, and how easy it is...

聽了後我就很想去日本，所以我就去了學校的國際中心

and how it's affordable! There are so many scholarships you can look into

去諮詢留學的細節

to study abroad

他們提供不同的學校讓我選

So then I just thought, I do really wanna go to Japan... so I went to my school's

讓我可以去日本

international centre and I asked them about studying abroad and they

喔 沒錯，我也是透過相同的管道 我就是去我加拿大的母校

told me a select number of options

告訴國際中心的承辦員

of different schools that I can go to in Japan

也因為我的大學和許多日本大學有合作

Oh cool, yah that's exactly the same as me then. I just went through my home

所以我可以選自己想去的地區 :)

university in Canada

所以當你剛來日本時，你的日文程度是？

went and talked to the international

我來之前有學過一年的日文

advisor there, and yeah also for me my

但在美國學習和日本學習的不同點是

university had several connections with universities in japan so I could choose what

在美國，進度很慢，而且我們比較專注在

area in Japan I wanted to live in :)

日本文學和日本史這樣的課程

So when you came here how was your Japanese level?

而不是真的在學語言，所以進度上慢很多

I studied Japanese for a year before I came here... but the

在美國，一年內沒有學到非常多...

difference between studying here and

所以當時的日文對話程度是？

back in america is that it

那時候你可以用日文對話嗎？

it's very very slow and we're more concentrated on

在你剛來的時候？ 呃...不行

other classes like Japanese Literature and Japanese History instead of

一年後的現在，有比較習慣了嗎？

actual Japanese language, so it's a lot slower

好多了！

we didn't learn as much...

所以在日本上學真的讓你的日文進步快多囉？

but, for a year.

沒錯 我自己也是

So how was your Japanese conversation-wise?

把自己沉浸在語言和文化中真的很棒

Were you able to

你無時無刻都在使用日文

hold a conversation

像是在商店裡跟收銀員說話

when you first came here? Umm... no...

在郵局，你不得不講日文，所以你真的會學到很多

How do you find it now that you've been here for

比起在你自己的國家

about a year?

另一個我也常被問到的是 「你如何負擔在日本上學的費用？」

It's a lot better

學費不是超級昂貴嗎？

Yeah

我覺得日本的學費沒有比加拿大的學費貴

Yeah, so...

我想在美國的高等教育學費

studying in japan has really improved your Japanese a lot faster?

應該更貴

Yeah, I find that as well. It's great to be

我想收費應該沒有調整太多

immersed in the

基本上就跟其他地方的學費差不多

language and culture and you have chances to use Japanese

Greg在美國有申請學生貸款

all the time

而我申請到一些獎學金

when you go to the store

包括我的母校、

talk to the person at the cash register

日本政府、

At the post office, you're force to use it.... so you really do learn a lot more than

還有我在日本的大學都有提供

you would back in

所以獎學金也是一個很好的方式

your home country, I think.

協助你支付學費

Okay, one question that I get a lot is how do you afford to go to school in

有很多可以申請，我會在說明欄中附上一些網址

Japan, isn't the tuition crazy expensive??

提供給想在日本求學的國際學生們，記得去看看 :)

I don't find the tuition to be much more expensive than it was in

另外，日本政府也准許學生打工

Canada

一周28小時

I think even in America tuition is

你可以去申請工作許可

pretty expensive

有各式各樣的工作可選，像是教英文、

for post-secondary education. So I don't think the prices change much so

在便利商店工作

basically the same way you would pay for school anywhere else.

如果你具備基礎的日文能力

I think Greg is getting student loans from America

或是

and I got a few scholarships from

有些大學也提供工讀機會，我在我的大學辦公室工作過

my home university

這裡有許多工作機會，所以那也是一個

from the Japanese government, and from my

支付學費的方法

university here in Japan.

下一個問題

So scholarships are also a great way to

「我們是如何教到日本朋友的？」

help you pay for your tuition

「很難嗎？」

and there are many available. I'll post some links down in the description box of

「和日本學生有什麼溝通上的困難？」 Greg，你覺得呢？

scholarships for foreign students that wanna study in Japan, so check those out :)

這個嘛...

Also as a student in Japan you're allowed to work

事實上

twenty eight hours a week.

是非常困難呢

You're allowed to apply for a working permit.

因為我的日文沒那麼好

Sooo

還有

there are many jobs that you can do here, teaching English or working in a

像我說的，我在美國學過一年日文

convenience store, if you have a

但其實我根本沒學到什麼，因為進度太慢了

basic level of Japanese

而且我也沒用過日文，所以一切就像是從頭開始

or

但在學校裡，交朋友滿容易的

some universities offer jobs. I work in the office at my university.

如果你參加社團，或是跟你的輔導員聊天，

But yeah, there are lots of working options so that's also another way that you

或是教別人英文的話 那倒是真的

can pay for tuition here :)

但除此之外

Another question

就變得非常困難

how do we find it

對 我發現

trying to make Japanese friends? Do we find it difficult? Do you have any problems

大部分的日本人都不好意思跟外國人說話

communicating with japanese students? What do you think about that?

或許因為他們不確定我們是否可以理解他們的意思

Well...

也可能是他們

it's

對講英文感到不自在

actually pretty

所以

hard at times because my Japanese level is not the best

你可能覺得他們不會對你超級友善

and

但我想如果你先打開話匣子

like I said, I studied for

並試著

one year in America but it's kind of like I didn't study at all because it was

與日本人對話，要交日本朋友也不是一件難事

very slow, and I never used Japanese. So here is kinda like starting all over. But

他們通常都滿友善的，而且也喜歡跟聊天

at our school it's kind of easy at times to make friends depending on if you

特別是外國人，日本人通常都想了解

go to clubs, or talk to your advisor

你的國家

or help teach English, something like that.

還有文化

That's true, yeah. But besides that

至於社團，如果你是在日本學校讀書的話

at times it can be hard to.

記得要多參加不同的社團，像是運動社團

Yeah, I find that

空手道、柔道、劍道...

lots of Japanese people are kind of shy to

或是文化社團

talk to foreigners. Maybe because they don't know if we'll understand them

日本書道社、

or they're not

茶藝社

comfortable with their English ability

我參加過一段時間的茶藝社

so

還有什麼社團啊...？

you may find that they won't try to be

動漫社！

super friendly with you, but I think if you initiate the

誰不愛動漫！ (笑)

conversation and try to

你可以看動畫，然後討論內容

talk to Japanese people that it's really not that hard to make friends

藝術社團、合唱團

they're usually super friendly and they encourage

有各式各樣的社團，而且這是一個交朋友的好方法

conversation, especially with foreigners. They're usually really interested in

你會立刻和社團裡的每個人變成朋友

learning about your country

當你們每周都會見面時

and culture

當你發現

But yeah, as for clubs if you do join a school

自己必須去郵局或銀行

in Japan make sure you participate in lots of different clubs. Sports clubs,

而且你需要辦點事，像是開戶或寄包裹

karate, judo, kendo, all those kind of things.

你覺得

or culture

跟那裡的人表達自己的想法是一件很難的事嗎？

aspects, like

有時候啦...

Japanese calligraphy or the

好啦 其實非常非常難

tea ceremony

我知道自己想說什麼，但可能當時我忘了該怎麼說

I was in that club for a while.

或是我想太多了，覺得自己不知道

What other kind of clubs do we have...

所以我一般都是請日文比我好的人

An anime club

協助我處理

for anyone who likes anime

那是個好主意

You can watch anime and discuss it

如果你對自己的日文沒信心，就請朋友陪你

Art clubs, singing clubs

當你需要辦理一些複雜的手續時

There're all different kind of things and it's a really great way to make friends

即便是我，我覺得在銀行解釋事情真的很難

You'll become friends with everyone in the club like almost instantly as you get to see each

我不知道專業術語，太難了...

other

而且大部分人都不太懂英文...你知道的 所以帶個懂日文的人是個滿好的點子

every week, so yeah.

或是請一個日本人陪你

How do you find it

如果你在日本上學，你可以和一些日本人成為朋友

when you have to go

他們可能會把你介紹給家人

say... to the post office or the bank, and you need to do something like open an

我相信他們會非常和善的

account or send a package? Do you find it hard to

也會想幫助你

talk to the workers and get across what you want to do?

最後一個問題！ 你最喜歡在日本求學的哪一點？

At times it's

那就是「我真的生活在日本」 像我前面說的

actually very hard because

在美國，學日文的速度很慢

I know what I want to say, but maybe I forget the word at

而且在課堂外，幾乎不會有使用日文的機會

the time or something like that. Or I think about it

在日本，你必須無時無刻使用日文

too much, and then I'm like, ohh I really don't know it...

所以滿好的

So usually I take

如果你是來學日文的話 沒錯，你的日文真的進步神速

somebody that knows more Japanese than me, so that helps me if

跟你剛來的時候比

I ever get caught

你會看到

Yeah, that's a good idea.

自己在日文上的進步有多快，真的很棒！

Yeah if you don't feel comfortable with your Japanese bring a friend with you when you

即使你沒在日本參加任何語言課程

need to go do some of that complicated stuff.

只要你人在日本，天天使用日文

Even for me, I find it difficult to explain some things at the bank... I just

你真的會看見自己的日文光速進步

don't know the vocabulary, it's hard...

我很享受在日本的每一天

Most places don't know much English...So yeah that's a great idea to bring

日本的食物很棒

someone

到處都有雜貨店和便利商店

that knows more Japanese

不管你想買什麼都不難 像壽司啦、甜點啦

than you. Or even bring a Japanese person with you. If you're going to

各種飲料零食 你可以在我的影片裡看到一堆

school here you're gonna be making connections with Japanese people

我很喜歡介紹有趣的日本零食，說都說不完！

they're probably gonna introduce you to their families, and I'm sure they would be and i'm sure they would be

真的很酷

super

你永遠不會無聊，永遠都有新東西等著你去試

friendly and wanna help you if you ever need someone to go somewhere with you.

還有各種活動，像唱卡拉OK、

Anddd lastly, what do you enjoy the most about your experience going to school

去購物、

here?

去遊樂中心、

Well, that I'm actually HERE in Japan. Because like I said before

射飛鏢、打撞球、

in America we actually

打保齡球

learned very slowly, Japanese, and in most cases we don't use it

實在有太多好玩的事情可做了！ 而且我們住在城市，所以我們可以去

much at all besides in the classroom. So here we actually have

東京鬧區，像澀谷、新宿，一下就到了

to use it everywhere

太多好玩的事情了，那是我最喜歡住在日本的原因

So it's actually good

好啦！那就是今天的Q&A影片

in my opinion to come here and study Japanese. Yeah, your Japanese has gotten

如果你們還有其他的問題

so much better

請留言給我

since you first came here.

我會在之後的影片中再回答你們 Greg，謝謝你今天的加入！

You'll see a

之後見啦！拜拜~~~

quick improvement in your Japanese for sure. It's really great. Even if you're

not in

actual Japanese language classes

when you're in Japan. Just being here and having to use it every day

you'll

see a really quick improvement in your Japanese level.

For me I really enjoy just everyday Japanese life.

Japanese

food is awesome

there are grocery stores and convenience stories

everywhere. So it's really not hard to get anything you want, sushi, sweets

all kinds of drinks and snacks. As you've seen throughout my

videos I like to introduce the interesting Japanese snacks, there's TONS

It's really cool. You just

never get bored, there's always something new to try out.

Also activity-wise, karaoke

shopping

game centers

darts, billiards

bowling

there's just so many cool things to do and we live in the city so we can go to

big areas of Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinjuku super quickly and it's just

really fu, there's so many fun things to do here. That's my favourite thing about living in Japan.

All right! So that's all for our question-and-answer video today. If you

guys have anymore questions please leave some

in the comment

section below, and I'll answer them in a future video. Thank you Greg, for joining me

I will see you guys again soon! BYEEEE :D